Posts tagged with neko case

the sadies

todays going to take a bit of a turn with the country rock sounds of the sadies out of toronto. im pretty sure i heard this track a week or two ago when japandroids were hosting a show on sirius xmu and this song really got my attention, and it worked out perfectly when i checked the name of the song and it happened to be an uncommon chicks name. the sadies are also known for touring with fellow torontoan (whats the word for a toronto resident? torontoan? torontan? torontoite?) neko case as her live band and their sound goes perfectly with her alt country crooning.

as for “anna leigh”, just like the song “shelia” from a few days back, this one makes great use of the tempo changes for dramatic effect. it starts out real slow and then about 30 seconds picks right up with a great country sound, as opposed to the bad country sound usually associated with songs about barbecue stains on shirts and whatnot. make sure not to miss the great little solo in the middle of the song.

the sadies – anna leigh

The Sadies - New Seasons - Anna Leigh buy this track on itunes
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bat for lashes

the last day of lollapalooza is upon us (at least for the purposes of this blog). there are lots of acts to see today. aside from todays artist, bat for lashes, im probably most excited for neko case, friendly fires (although since they go on at 1230 and i didnt make it to the park before 3 last year, that show is in major jeopardy unless i get my act together) and HOLY COW how did i not notice earlier that lou reed is performing!? thats pretty nuts that i didnt realize it before. so normally id be really depressed at this point because on monday id be driving back home and going back to work on tuesday. but luckily im going up north immediately following the festival for the rest of the week, so i dont have to be depressed until next sunday. and then i will be very very depressed.

im really starting to like bat for lashes, aka natasha khan, for so many reasons. the first is that i really like her music. i enjoyed the simplicity of “fur and gold” and am getting into the slightly electronic sounds of “two suns”. another reason that i like bat for lashes is that shes super cute and looks remarkably like my friend nadia. like eerily similar. nadia, i hope you dont mind but heres a picture, just for comparisons sake. but i will totally take it down if you want. isnt the resemblance uncanny? while there are many songs from “two suns” worthy of a post, i went back to the opening track of “fur and gold” because it was the first bat for lashes song id ever heard and still one of my favorites. and its so simple but sounds so unique. its amazing how the sounds of strings, drums and a harpsichord meld together so well. im also listening to “daniel” as we speak and am tempted to change it up and post that one instead. but really, that would involve rewriting 3 sentences, so you’ll have to listen to that one on your own. so good so good.

bat for lashes – horse and i

Bat for Lashes - Fur and Gold - Horse and I buy this track on itunes
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the new pornographers live

we interrupt your regularly scheduled program so i can acknowledge the king of pop. alls im gonna do is mention how awesomely 70s the “dont stop til you get enough” video is, and how i still really really want to learn the thriller dance.

back to the task at hand….it just wouldnt be climax week without the new pornographers. get it?! i am hilarious. but seriously folks, im not. anyway id heard about the new pornographers for quite a while way back when before id ever heard them. they seemed to be yet another one of these canadian supergroups, except there are some americans too. but the group features tons of other people that have their own projects. there’s the unofficial leader of the group, ac newman, his partner in crime dan bejar of destroyer fame, the ever classy alt-country crooner neko case, and kathryn calder (who i believe is also a niece of someone in the band) of immaculate machine. and those are the ones i know off the top of my head, so im sure there are other side projects by these and the other members of the group. because of this, you never really know who will show up on stage when they tour. i was lucky enough to catch them last spring at my favorite new venue the crofoot and while dan bejar wasnt there, i was happy to see that neko case was.

regardless, id been hearing about their super poppy sound but never really gave it a shot until i heard this track, the bleeding heart show. i think it was featured in some sort of commercial a while back for a college or something but cant remember which one. luckily for me, i picked up a copy of “twin cinema” and then explored the rest of their catalog and am stronger and wiser because of it. is there really anyone who hasnt heard “use it” and loved it instantly? place a few of these catchy as F songs next to some neko case ballads (like “these are the fables”) and youve just got a great, well-rounded album thats loved by both young and old. it even ends with another climactic track, “stacked crooked”, which is also a favorite of mine. while this is definitely my favorite album of theirs, the ones that came before or after are nothing to bawk at, which i thought was a real saying, but spell check is telling me otherwise.

whats so great about this song? the change from start to finish. if you listen to the song, you will know exactly what im talking about. this song has a nicely defined beginning, middle and end, each section a little louder, a little bolder, a little happier than the last, until you arrive at the final theme in all of its major chorded, harmonized glory. cap it off with some excellent drum fills and the one-of-a-kind voice of neko case and you can thank me later.

the new pornographers – the bleeding heart show

The New Pornographers - Twin Cinema - The Bleeding Heart Show buy this track on itunes
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